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It means Boro have lost two of their three home games this season, which is not the sort of form that will earn them the top six place they are aiming for.

“We’ve got to get it right at home,” said Kitching. “This is the shape we want to play and the way we want to play, but it’s a difficult one, because we want to play two up front, but we also want three in the middle of the park because otherwise you get picked off very quickly, like against Buxton.

“It’s something we’ve got to address because we’re isolating Dan Westwood. He’s proved in the first four games that he will score goals for us at this level, but we’re not making the most of the three in the middle of the park and we’re not getting enough out of the two wide players either side of him.

“We’ve either got to change the system or do some work on the training ground.

“It was never going to be all roses. There’s five or six new lads in the dressing room and we’ve changed the shape so we don’t have a big target man up front, so there’s work to be done.”

The goal came from the only real spark of creativity in the game, as Tom Thorley made the most of space afforded to him in midfield to pick a pass between the Boro defenders, which Dodd ran onto and took around Adam Whitehouse to spark celebrations among the Hednesford section of the 1,226 crowd.

“I’m disappointed to lose, and it was a scrappy game with very little quality from either side,” added Kitching.

“In derbies, it’s always going to be nip and tuck, it’s all about winning your bits in the middle of the park. In the main, we’ve done that, but when there is one bit of quality required, Hednesford have shown it.

“Neither of us put on much of a spectacle for the fans, but they’ve nicked it.